


Midnight in Paris

by SKayLanphear



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Dancing, F/M, New Years Eve, fancy clothes, ladrien, reveal-fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-11
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-10-08 01:38:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17377097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SKayLanphear/pseuds/SKayLanphear
Summary: It’s New Years and all of Paris is throwing a special party just for Ladybug and Chat Noir. But while Marinette is excited to go, Chat is less so, assuming his Lady won’t even bother to show up. Needless to say, this throws a wrench into all of Marinette’s plans.





	Midnight in Paris

"So are you going tomorrow?" His voice held that typical, knowing cockiness. Ladybug raised an eyebrow in his direction from where she was sitting on the edge of a roof, legs dangling. Chat was beside her, that trademark smirk in place.

"Going where?" she asked, even though she knew exactly what he was referring to.

"The New Year's masquerade in our honor, of course," he purred, that grin stretching just a bit wider. "There'll be so many Ladybugs and Chat Noirs there, we could slip in and no one would ever know."

"I'd know," she said with a confident grin of her own, before reaching up and flicking his bell in the same moment. "You wouldn't be able to slip under my radar, kitty-kitty."

"Is that a yes?" he asked, leaning a bit closer as he did. "Should I keep an eye out for you?"

"It is neither a yes nor a no," she verified. "I suppose you'll just have to wait and see."

"Well, that's hardly any fun," he said with a mock frown—she could see the continued mirth in his eyes. " _I_  won't bother going if you're not going to be there. The city expects us to make an appearance, you know. It'd be awfully disrespectful to stand them up."

"How would they even know? Like you said, there will be plenty of Chats and Ladybugs there."

" _I'd_  know."

"You think you'd recognize me?"

"Of course! What do you take me for? But it'd be nice to know for sure whether I should look for you. It'd really help me _owt_."

"Oh, kitty," she said with a sigh, pulling her feet up before standing. "You should know by now, I never make things easy for you." She winked, while he stood up beside her.

"Don't I know it. Always using me as a distraction while you take all the glory."

"I think you get plenty enough glory," she said with an eye roll, arms folding over her chest. "You were voted the most eligible guy in Paris! And no one even knows who you are."

"Yeah," he grinned again. "Right above Adrien Agreste." Who'd taken second.

"I'm sure he was far more deserving of first."

"That wounds me, My Lady." He'd reached out and taken her hand, pulling it up to lie flat against his chest. "Do you not feel my heart breaking?"

"I certainly feel something, though it seems more akin to ego than heartbreak," she said, her hand folding in as she poked him somewhat harshly in the chest. He laughed, releasing her as she took a step back.

"Well, whether you go or not, I'll be looking for you," he said with a graceful, extravagant bow. "You are, as they say, the only apple of my eye."

"I'm sure." She pulled her yoyo from her hip. "Until next time, Pussycat."

"I'll be waiting in baited breath, Bugaboo."

Dropping down off the roof, Ladybug swung around the familiar buildings, having to hold back the urge to look back at Chat. As soon as she knew she was well out of sight and range, however, she came to a stop behind a chimney, her spirits dropping a bit more with each passing second.

It was a common occurrence as of late, her uncertain feelings when it came to Chat. Truth be told, she wasn't totally sure where her unease was coming from or why it was happening in the first place. But it was like she was second-guessing everything she said to him, even though she had no idea why.

All her feelings were confusing as of late. Everything that had once been so simple was now muddy and clouded. Chat had real feelings for her, or had, and she'd rejected him. She'd confessed to Adrien and he'd rejected her. She still loved Adrien, but was nursing heartbreak. She wondered if Chat was doing the same or if he'd moved on. She had no way of knowing, because obviously he didn't talk to her about such things. Which meant that every time he smiled at her, every time he flirted, she had no way of knowing whether he meant it or not.

She told herself it didn't matter either way, yet no amount of logic could clear away the uncertainty. After all, she wasn't over Adrien, so why would it be safe to assume Chat was over her?

It's been months since Hero's Day—since she'd dared to make her move. Adrien had been flattered, and later expressed as much, but made it clear that he only thought of her as a friend.

She'd been heartbroken—she still was. It'd been a long time and she still couldn't get over him. Which was what made the whole thing even worse. She wanted to move on, but she just couldn't. Being rejected had cleared away some of the fantasies she had about her and Adrien's future, but it hadn't wiped away the feelings. Those still beat hard and strong despite her attempts to move on. Even Alya expressed concern that she wasn't making progress. There was no hope to hold onto, after all. Adrien didn't feel that way about her and she couldn't make him.

She understood Chat a little better now—why he'd been so persistent despite the fact that she'd rejected him. It was hard, getting over a heartbreak. She'd found herself wanting to approach Adrien, to try again, on numerous occasions. It was Alya's reasonable head that had kept her at bay and helped her through the worst of it.

She understood now, what Chat must have been going through. Why he'd been so frustrated. Above all, though, she wished she could confide in him about it all. He knew how she felt, yet it'd be wholly inappropriate to go to him about such issues. Like rubbing salt in the wound. But the want remained. A desire to talk to him, to just… She didn't know.

She didn't know anything about such things as of late. It was all such a confusing mess rolling around in her stomach. Mostly, she just wanted it all to go away. She didn't want to have feelings for Adrien, she didn't want Chat to have feelings for her. She wanted everything to be the way it had been before everything had gone sour.

No, her relationship with Chat didn't seem to have suffered much aside from his few bouts of frustration, which he generally straightened up from in a prompt fashion. But somehow it all only reminded her of her own situation, and so she felt as though she were wandering in circles, lost and unable to recognize where she should be headed next.

Alya would be disappointed that she was wallowing again.

Sighing, Ladybug scuffed her foot some through the snow, before forcefully pushing her uncertainties aside—as she always ended up doing.

Maybe she didn't know what to do about her feelings, but there was plenty else she could move forward on. The New Years masquerade festival the next day, for one. Her outfit was nearly done—she just needed a few more beads to complete the ensemble.

Determined to focus on the festival, she pulled up her yoyo and began swinging through the lightly falling snow once again, shooting off across town until she was just outside the accessory shop where she'd find the supplies she needed. Flipping down into a nearby alley, she called back her transformation as she landed. Tikki buzzed around her head a moment, before ducking into the collar of her winter coat as she headed out into the street.

She smiled at the shopkeeper as she entered, who nodded back, but was otherwise preoccupied with customers. All the craft and accessory stores had been bustling as of late. Everyone was getting ready for the festival. No doubt, there'd be hundreds of Ladybugs and Chat Noirs around, some staying more loyal to their real costumes while others would likely take liberties.

It also meant that a lot of the details—like spots, zippers, masks, cat ears, etc—were totally out of stock in most places. Thankfully, though, Marinette was not in the market for red fabric or black pleather. She went straight for the beads, which were mostly untouched. Grabbing the container she needed off the top shelf, she was soon in line and checking out, sporting none of the trappings that had caught the eye of everyone else in Paris.

Small bag in hand, she debated whether or not to transform and get home a bit faster, but ultimately decided she didn't mind a walk through the snowy streets. The wind wasn't overly strong and though the snowflakes were falling quite heavily, they were big and soft, thus creating a lovely sort of winter wonderland all over Paris. So long as one was bundled up appropriately, it was perfect walking weather. Or so Marinette felt, even if the streets were still rather empty in comparison to what was typical.

She hummed to herself in the quiet afternoon, running through her head all the plans she had for her outfit. It was done, mostly, but she wanted to add the finishing touches that night, so she could be positive there'd be nothing to worry about on New Year's Eve.

But she wasn't so preoccupied as to be caught unaware by the shadow trailing her through the streets. She might have been startled, was she not Ladybug. Instead, she became immediately defensive, before her good sense realized that the shadow creeping across the roofs beside her could be none other than Chat Noir.

But what was he doing, following her? They'd talked a few times while she'd been in her civilian form. Once they'd even talked quite personally—the day he'd taken her to the date spot he'd had planned for Ladybug. But she wouldn't go so far as to say they were on the closest of terms.

Well, better to go straight to the root of the problem than just keep wondering, she supposed.

Jogging across a slushy street, she side-tracked her way into a nearby park. Once inside the fence, she turned and looked up at the roof nearby, right where Chat had just vanished behind a chimney.

Crossing her arms over her chest, she tapped her toe in the snow and waited. It wasn't long and he'd bounded to the top of the chimney, his tail twitching lazily behind him before he vaulted forward. As graceful as a cat, he landed on the fence directly in front of her, that devious grin already in place.

Marinette cocked a disapproving eyebrow. "Yes?" she asked shortly.

"I'm surprised you noticed me," he admitted.

"I'm a girl walking home alone," she countered. "I'm pretty well-versed in noticing when men start following me around." A hazard of being born a woman, really.

"Touché," Chat agreed, before cocking his head some to the side. "Sorry then, didn't mean to come across like I was stalking you."

"Why were you following me in the first place?"

"Just happened to be passing by and saw you is all," he explained, his grin finally dropping into a frown. "And I guess I'm kind of lonely."

Marinette frowned as well. "Why would you be lonely? I can't imagine someone like you doesn't have tons of friends."

He shrugged. "It may be the holidays, but not all of us have much of a family to go home to, you know? And all my friends are busy." He sighed and glanced up at the sky. "Even Ladybug."

"Oh?" Marinette fidgeted some. "So you thought you'd follow me home then?"

He grinned. "I was gonna come down and talk to you eventually."

"Oh, eventually." She huffed.

"We're kinda like friends, right?" he asked, crawling a bit along the fence before he finally dropped down into the snow in front of her.

"I mean…" Marinette wasn't sure how to interpret his statement. "We can be, if you want." Yet, none of this seemed quite right. "Is there something wrong?"

"Am I that obvious?" he asked, coming up so he could lean in a little too close, his hand holding his chin thoughtfully beneath his Cheshire smile.

Marinette curled her nose, but didn't back away. "Well, the last time you wanted to talk to me, you were upset, so…"

His smile vanished once again, before he turned and took a step away. He crouched down a moment later, facing away from her as he scraped aimless designs in the snow with his claw. His tail seemed to droop behind him.

"I don't really have anyone to talk to," he admitted slowly. "Not when it comes to… superhero stuff, anyway."

An admission that initially startled Marinette. Not because she was surprised he'd admit such things to a civilian, but because he had Ladybug to confide in, yet he clearly felt as though he couldn't do that. She tried not to be hurt by his words, but the notion coiled inside her chest nonetheless.

Biting her lip, she hesitated for just a moment before coming up beside him and crouching down to his level.

"You can talk to me," she said quietly, cringing only quickly at her own words. He'd clearly chosen not to tell Ladybug whatever his problems were, yet here she was, offering to listen anyway. Somehow, it felt as though she were going behind his back.

He turned to her a second later, a small smile on his lips. The expression was so much more subdued than what she was used to seeing that it made her heart sink in sympathy.

"I doubt that's a good idea," he murmured.

"You said it yourself," she continued. "We're sort of like friends, right? You can tell me." Yet he stayed quiet. So she elbowed him lightly in the side, which pulled a bit more of a grin onto his face.

"It's stupid," he finally started, once again looking down at the ground as he dragged his clawed finger around in the snow. "I guess I'm just not really feeling this whole… New Year's Eve festival-party thing."

"Why not?"

"I don't really know…" He sighed. "I guess it's because of Ladybug."

A claim that left Marinette curious.

"She won't tell me if she's going or not," he explained. "And, I mean, we're always kind of… ambiguous about some stuff. Like, it's fun most of the time, me flirting with her, her acting all annoyed about it even though I know she's not."

He smiled shortly, as did Marinette, before his expression darkened once again.

"But I guess I don't want to get stood up again, you know?"

"I don't… What do you mean?"

"I'm just afraid she's not going to show," he admitted. "And I get that this isn't a date or anything, but sometimes it's like… like she only puts up with me because we're partners. This isn't an interview or anything where we're required to make an appearance. If we go, we might not even be recognized. She says we're friends, but… she's probably going to go with her real friends or something. And I don't want to be all alone, waiting around when she's not even going to show."

He stood then and paced a bit away from her.

"But… it's a Ladybug and Chat Noir festival," Marinette reasoned meekly. "Wouldn't it be more appropriate for her to attend with you?"

He shrugged one shoulder, his tail lashing back and forth angrily for only a moment. "I don't think it matters," he said bitterly. "Ladybug always wants to keep everything between us professional. Maybe that's the best way to do it. We don't need to know each other outside our superhero duties. There's no reason for us to go anywhere together if it doesn't serve our positions. I mean, I can't even get her to go get ice cream with me most of the time, let alone anything else."

He shook his head. "I don't know why I ever thought I stood a chance with her."

"Chat…" Marinette wanted to say something, to correct him, but her tongue was caught. She couldn't say anything—not anything that would make a difference anyway. "That can't possibly be true."

"Whatever her life is outside Ladybug, she doesn't want me to be a part of it," he explained. "And that's… fine. I guess she's been saying that from the beginning, I was just… hoping for something else."

"You're irreplaceable as Chat Noir," Marinette dared to say.

"Yeah, as Chat, but Ladybug doesn't want to know me beyond that."

It was Marinette's turn to look down at the snow, guilt trickling up through her despite the fact that she didn't wholly agree that it was justified. Yet, once again, she was assaulted by a menagerie of confusing emotions she didn't understand.

"Do you still have feelings for her? For Ladybug?" she dared to ask.

He chuckled bitterly. "Of course, but it doesn't matter." Finally, he turned to face her, but Marinette couldn't bring herself to meet his gaze. "For a while I thought that- that if I just kept trying, she'd love me back. Someday. But I'm realizing that maybe that was stupid. I can't force her to love me back—I was just wasting my time."

"Oh…"

"I should have changed targets, after all."

Marinette did look up then. "Changed targets?"

Chat just shook his head, however, casting her a small smile before he flicked his attention out across the park.

They were quiet for a moment, Marinette trying to digest everything he'd said despite the nausea that had crept up into her stomach.

"Hey, Marinette?" he said suddenly. "Do you think it's possible to be in love with two people at the same time?"

"What?" she asked a little too suddenly.

"Do you think it's possible to be in love with two people?" he repeated.

"I don't… Are you—Are you in love with someone else?" Despite the fact that she'd asked, she realized she really didn't want to hear his answer. In fact, she almost wanted to turn around and run in the opposite direction.

"I don't know," he said. "There's this girl that I know and she's… she's pretty amazing. I don't know if I actually have a chance with her, not after… But the more I think about her, the more I wonder if maybe I've liked her for a long time and I just didn't realize it. Because I was so focused on Ladybug."

"Oh," Marinette said shakily. "I mean, I think…" Though her thoughts were seemingly frozen, the answer left her tongue nonetheless. "I think it's possible. To—To be in love with two people at the same time. Maybe."

Saying the words out loud was painful—unexpectedly so. She hadn't anticipated the vice that had clamped down around her heart in the same moment, beginning to suffocate her. She had to take consciously deep breaths, ignoring how her legs threatened to give out beneath her.

"Yeah, I think so too," he agreed, as if he'd only just come to a conclusion on the matter. He turned to her a second later, smiling wide as he did. "Thanks for talking with me, Marinette. You've really made me feel better."

"Oh, uh, glad I could help," she said quietly. "So—So are you going tomorrow? To the New Year's Eve festival?"

"I dunno," he said, sounding far less downed about the whole thing than when they'd initially started talking. Marinette, on the other hand, couldn't say the same about herself. "Maybe I'll go with my own friends—I don't get to hang out with them very much as it is."

"Yeah, but, what if—what if Ladybug expects that you'll be there? With her?"

He hummed thoughtfully. "I don't know that she'd even care," he said.

"You can't really believe that," she replied quickly. A little too quickly, if the puzzled look she got in response said anything on the matter. "You two are partners, after all. Friends too."

He sighed. "Yeah, I guess. It is a ball being held in our honor and all that." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'll keep thinking about it. What about you? Are you going?"

"I—I don't know," she said, clutching her bag of beads a little tighter. "I hadn't decided yet."

Chat grinned. "Maybe we'll see each other there?"

Marinette released a hollow laugh. "Yeah, maybe."

He winked lastly, before offering her an extravagant bow and bounding back up onto the fence. Turning back, he waved, Marinette returning the gesture before he threw himself up into the air. He landed on a nearby roof, before vanishing into the snowy afternoon.

Alone once again, Marinette was left feeling even colder as she stood in the snow, motionless, staring after him.

Chat was in love with someone else? Someone other than Ladybug?

The idea spun and spun inside her head, bouncing around in the walls of her thoughts long after she'd found the gumption to continue on home. It was still plaguing her even as she reached her bedroom, sitting down before her sewing machine with her new beads in hand. Which was where she found herself frozen once again, hands somewhat shaky atop her table.

"Tikki?" she eventually said.

The tiny red kwami floated up in front of her, looking somewhat concerned as she did. "Yes, Marinette?"

"Do you think that he's really…" She couldn't even get the words out. She swallowed hard a second later, before attempting to push her uncertainties away. "Never mind," she settled for saying. "You want to help me with these beads?"

"Of course," Tikki said, though her tone was somewhat more subdued than usual.

The day came and went, Marinette doing all she could to ignore the anxious twisting inside her gut. It wasn't that difficult, therefore, to claim she was sick when her parents were readying themselves to head out for the festival. Her mother even commented that she appeared pale, sending her off to bed and promising that they'd be back later in the evening. Though they weren't dressing up, even they wanted to enjoy the festival being held in Ladybug and Chat Noir's honor.

Waiting quietly until she heard the front door close, Marinette then silently went about getting ready. Tikki tried to get her attention at one point, but she simply waved the kwami's concerns away. She hadn't planned and sewn and labored over this outfit for months so she could decide not to go at the last minute, Chat be damned. This was the only opportunity she had to be neither Marinette nor Ladybug. She'd just be another face in the swarms of Ladybugs attending. No, her outfit wasn't loyal to Ladybug's, but others were wearing gowns and costumes in inspiration only. She could do the very same.

First and foremost came her hair. She'd been practicing the hairstyle she wanted for weeks. With Tikki's help, she managed to get it into a complicated updo—one that only took a minimum of an hour to get right. With a final puff of hairspray, she was quite satisfied with the result.

Which was when it was time to turn her attention to makeup. She didn't wear a lot regularly, but this was a special occasion, so something a bit more extravagant than mascara was required. She'd spent a long time picking out the perfect colors to go with her outfit, as well as practiced the application. She brushed on the layer of foundation before setting her focus on her eyes. She'd purchased a specific kind of sparkling red, glitter eye shadow, which she applied with careful precision to her eyelids, until they sparkled above her lashes. And of course the tedious false lashes, which were long and excessive. She accented the look with sweeping black wings made of glittery eyeliner. With a dusting of highlighter down her nose and in the corners of her eyes for shine, she finally set her attention on the black, plastic jewels she'd hunted down weeks before.

With a special adhesive, she began the tedious process of sticking them to specific areas of her body. Down along her ears and around the edges of her eyes. At the backs of her jaw and down her neck. The jewels graduated to her shoulders, sprinkling down her arms and along her collar in fading sweeps. She was surveying her work as the sun began its descent outside her window. With the most complicated bits of the outfit applied, all that was left was to get dressed.

Opening her closet, she pulled out the "dress" as well as the other odds and ends that went with it.

She tied two specifically cut pieces of red silk into her hair that acted like a crown from the front around to the back. She then pulled on a modified, shiny black bodysuit, which her parents would have been aghast at seeing her purchase (and why she'd kept it to herself and her allowance). It was a tight fit, like her Ladybug suit, but with generous modification. For one, she'd cut up the front and back, creating a sweetheart neckline in the front while being far more generous in the back. The black of the suit swept down to the base of her spine, revealing almost all of her back—any lower and it might have bordered on too revealing. That was, if she hadn't added all the lace detailing.

She wasn't skilled enough to create lace all on her own, but she'd spent hours scouring fabric stores, looking for red lace fabric that she could piece together to make her very own creation. Up the center of her back, she'd sewn a long string of red bridal buttons into the transparent mesh she'd attached to the bodysuit. It appeared almost as though the buttons were sitting directly atop her skin. And around it, she'd sewn in red lace detailing. It was sparser along her back, before graduating around the bottoms of her shoulders and becoming sleeves that stretched all the way down her arms. She'd sewn more of the lace around her collar and along her neckline, as well as down the sides of the body suit so as to frame her figure down to her hips.

The skirt, by contrast, was attached separately via ties she'd sewn into the bodysuit. She'd created it out of red tulle. It attached around her waist, along a seam of red lace. But it didn't close in the front. Rather, it was more akin to a cape skirt, as it was open in the front, allowing for a visual of the black bodysuit that covered her all the way down to her toes. The tulle cascaded in length, until a long train of layered fabric was dragging across the floor behind her. She'd sewn tiny black beads into the folds of the skirt, and so it shimmered when the light hit it just right.

Going to her wardrobe, she reached for the pumps she'd spent months breaking in, wearing them around her bedroom whenever she'd had the chance. They were pointed, ombre pumps, black at the toes that graduated to red at the heels. Maybe pumps weren't something Ladybug would typically wear—maybe none of this was—but she would be both Ladybug and Marinette night, while also remaining completely anonymous. She could stretch the truth of what was expected, she figured.

Checking herself over in the mirror and making sure everything was in place, she lastly removed her mask from the padded box at the back of her top desk drawer and slipped it carefully on. It was black and decorated with similarly sparkling beads to match those that adorned the rest of her outfit.

Though feathers were normally an expected adornment for such an event, she'd stayed away from them. Chat was allergic, after all, and she had no intention of ruining the night with such carelessness.

And it was in that moment, thinking of Chat, that she was caught frozen in front of her mirror. She'd spent months planning and sewing, putting this outfit together. Mostly for her own pleasure, but she'd been excited to show it off too. Among other things…

"Tikki," she said after a moment, any excitement at the night having long since evaporated from her thoughts, "did you know?"

"Know what?" she asked.

"That I'm in love with Chat."

Saying the words out loud was like having ice water dumped over her head. Yet she stood steady through it, even as her eyes blinked rapidly behind her mask.

"Oh, Marinette…"

"I'm in love with both of them," she said quietly. "And now neither of them wants me."

Adrien didn't have feelings for her in the first place, and now Chat was moving on to some other girl. It'd taken her too long to realize her feelings for her partner—only the sting of jealousy had finally done it—and now it was too late.

Unless, of course, she decided to do something about it.

"He'll come to the festival tonight," she said, as if she needed to convince herself. "And I'll tell him."

"Marinette?"

"I don't want to lose him too, Tikki. I wasted so much time with Adrien and it amounted to nothing. I won't be idle again while Chat falls in love with some other girl."

"Are you sure?"

No, she wasn't—she wasn't sure of anything. But listening to Chat the day before, she was worried that if she didn't act soon, she'd lose her chance. Her heart was already broken over Adrien—she didn't want to go through that all over again, and all because she hadn't acted fast enough.

She'd see Chat that night, and she'd tell him everything.

**Author's Note:**

> Heyo guys! Here's part one! I can't say much about it here, but feel free to check out my tumblr and twitter--skaylanphear--for more info on release dates for updates and other websites where we're posting (because wadako did some awesome art and comics to go along with this fic and y'all should check it out!)


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